


It's Nice To Have A Friend - Carlando

by milkchili



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Angst, Carlando, Cuddles, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff & Angst, Friendship, Insecure Lando, Lando needs a hug, M/M, Portimao GP, Protective Carlos, Supportive Carlos, The title is a reference to a Taylor Swift song, cute Lando, s(PAIN), sad Lando
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:27:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27746713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkchili/pseuds/milkchili
Summary: Lando is sad about his perfomance since the Sochi GP the luck was definitely not on his side.He needed a hug and who better than a Smooth Operator.
Relationships: Lando Norris & Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris/Carlos Sainz Jr
Kudos: 19





	It's Nice To Have A Friend - Carlando

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfiction is based on the end of the race at the Portimao GP (Yes, it took me a long time to upload it here)  
> I was inspired by the song "It's Nice To Have A Friend" by talented Taylor Swift from her album Lover.  
> I'm sorry if the english used in the fanfiction is not the best, isn't my first language.

He felt the icy midnight blizzard it invaded his entrails, penetrating every area of his slim body, involuntarily he reached the point of trembling.

The humidity of the environment was intensifying, however he refused to enter the hotel he needed fresh air, or rather he required it to let his worries fly along with the momentary but intense gusts of wind.

He was still in Portimão place where the last Grand Prix was contested, because McLaren had made the decision to take the private jets first thing in the morning, that was discouraging for the young promise of the team who had had a hard day of racing, the results obtained were far from what was expected.

The young briton was still sitting on the balcony, restless, watching the city beach in the distance waiting for the hours to pass before he could soon leave.

His thin frame was covered by the now icy breeze from the environment, even though he was with the team's windbreaker and who knows how many clothes underneath, he was still shivering suddenly despite the decrease in the wind.

His mind was scattered thousands of thoughts racked his head, mainly related to his obvious bad luck since the race in Sochi. His performance went downhill as the championship developed, mostly due to mechanical problems. However the exception to the rule was the last one, which was thanks to the impact that his car received in the lateral zone for to the collision he had with canadian Lance Stroll driver from Racing Point.  
Technically he had ruined his career was what Lando thought to himself as he gave a heavy sigh of his anger. The fact of having given interviews throughout the afternoon did not help to forget the event that happened this morning in Portugal.

As much as he tried to remain impartial by demonstrating professionalism, like experienced pilots who used to deal with the frustration of this demanding automotive discipline. Unlike them, he didn't serve to hide his emotions his body language spoke a lot for him; he spoke quickly to avoid breaks in his voice, he took time to respond, he looked to multiple sides to prevent him tears from accumulating, and even unconsciously he rubbed his eyes when they threatened to run down his soft cheeks. Simply put, he, Lando Norris was a young adult who had no tolerance for failure.

Consequently, this caused an outbreak on social media where he was harshly criticized for his lack of professionalism. They called him a brat who didn't deserve his position in the highest category of motorsport, in turn several of the followers of the sport blamed him for the incident that occurred at that curve.

Obviously, he also had a large group of his fans who gave him their unconditional support trying to raise his spirits with drawings, messages, videos, and others; which he greatly appreciated. However, when you are stressed you are surrounded by a halo of negativity, where what one focuses the least is on the positive side of the circumstance.

Momentarily, something distracted him from the deep deepening of his thoughts, something resonated with permanence in his head, irritated him. He proceeded to inquire where that infernal sound came from, that vibration, he checked by feeling his pant pocket and, indeed, it was his phone.

The brown-haired pilot rolled his eyes in view of the irruption of his mental relief, withdrew his hands from his pockets, touched their palms to each other they were still extremely frozen, and with some clumsiness he held his cell phone silencing it completely on the spot .

As each application was muted at least for the rest of the day, he managed to deduce what it was about so many labels and mentions. All pointed to the same, the fans demanded that he publicly apologize for what he said in the interviews with the privileged son of Lawrence Stroll. It seemed like his apology to Lance for the way he addressed him in the radio check leaks wasn't enough. People still held up their lack of self-control in an accident of such magnitude.

More than anything, viewers were now berating his alleged hypocrisy. Because in the interviews the media managed to get him to talk more and even came to express directly what he thought of Stroll, highlighting without more that the canadian didn't know what the hell he was doing. However, it wasn't all his fault as many of his words were completely taken out of context.

Obviously, he would apologize again but when he really was sorry. Right now he wasn't in the mood and just saw that all the blame should fall on that damn bastard buys teams with daddy's cash. He felt a pressure on his chest, he was hurt, gradually breaking down emotionally as night fell. His anger subsided, but his grief increased considerably.

Lando had silenced the phone absolutely to no avail, there he was going down the comment thread. Basically, the tendency was to insult only him, that was not fair he thought to himself.

The comments were repeated, the majority pointed out that he was a son of daddy as he harshly criticized. Others mentioned that he did not have the wood to stay there, that it was better for him to abandon Formula 1 and the remaining comments pointed out that McLaren only used it to attract public and not for his skills as a driver. That he was just an image, a handsome young man without a hint of talent other than his privileged genetics which assured him the position, his mere presence on the grid was exclusively to increase and satisfy the female audience. The young star of the orange team couldn't take it anymore, he left his mobile away from him hitting it against the table with a bang. Possibly, it had broken part of the screen but he didn't give it the slightest importance, the emotional crisis he was experiencing was more powerful with him.

His breathing as those eternal seconds passed was becoming more and more irregular, deep and shaky. Right now it felt like a soft many-lap tyre; totally worn and unusable.

He hated having to cry, because once he did he wouldn't stop until he had satisfied his misfortune for every failure so far this year, but he hated more to have to cry and carry it all alone. That was the culmination point, once the first drop fell, a stream of them emerged Lando fiercely clung to his own legs hiding his face between them.

The amount of problems that Norris had at that moment equaled the amount of tears that fell down his face incessantly, he sobbed more and more, he felt that he was even losing breath for moments.

The young man from Great Britain had reached a point where his constant spasms in the cold had passed into the background, simply irrelevant to him. On the other hand, all kinds of noise from the outside went unnoticed by him, so he didn't notice at what moment and how a certain person had approached him in a matter of seconds.

— Landoo — A familiar voice mentioned kindly as he surprised him from behind by placing one of his hands on the british boy's shoulder.

The youngest of the McLaren drivers was startled, letting out a high-pitched scream in short he had been scared by the sudden appearance of the spaniard, with some clumsiness he rejoined. That reaction seemed most comical to the hispanic who gave him a wide smile while laughing.

— C-Carlos! You scared me — Lando exclaimed still without looking at his partner while in a crude attempt he wiped away the traces of his crying quickly, to now observe him forcing a sweet smile.

— What are you doing here, you alone cabrón? — Asked the one with black hair and added — The team was looking for you a few hours ago, they told me they wanted to talk to you about the improvements in your ... — He stops what he was about to comment changing his expression to a slightly more serious — Lando are you listening? — He makes a disapproval face, sometimes he disliked the lack of concentration that his teammate had in what he said.

— Ah? Eh ... — Surprised Norris comes out of his trance blinking repeatedly, he felt his heavy face predicting that at any moment it would be a lake of tears — I was thoughtful that's all. And yes, before you say it, I do think ... — He spoke with the most avid tone he could pretend while he was silent again.

Carlos proceeds to laugh at the comment his partner had taken the words out of his mouth had read his mind, or it was too predictable for the young Twitch streamer. But that pleasant instance passed briefly Sainz noted how his teammate had not expressed the slightest laugh. This is where he realized that something was hiding the young F1 star.

— Well as i was telling you, the team says that all the technical problems of your car will be non-existent for Imola and ... well i came to look for you since you had worried me pequeño cabrón — He placed his hands on the shoulders of the shorter one and mentioned — I wasn't at the moment to cheer you up and spend time with you — The driver leader of the orange team articulated denoting some guilt.

The remorse of the pilot from Spain was due to the fact that he felt that he had only focused on himself. He had done relatively well, although he wasn't happy given his ambitious nature. The point was, he hadn't even crossed his mind to go see the young streamer who hadn't even managed to score.

— Lando? — He speaks with confusion when he sees his comrade so silent, it seemed as if he wasn't with him — Lando — He names him again with a slightly sweeter tone or so the young milk fan perceived it, who was still immobile clenching his hands in fists with force inside his pockets — Pequeño cabrón ... eh, are you crying? — Carlos questioned feeling like a reverend idiot for having asked something so obvious.

The brown-haired young man was stumped, stiff, and his nervousness increasing exponentially at the question. Crestfallen he shook his head, Sainz raised an eyebrow not believing his McLaren teammate at all.

— Ow, my muppet friend you know you can be honest with me — He said with a sweet tone to provide security and confidence to Norris — Tell me ... Have you been crying? — The hispanic declared with a tone of concern for the british but without being invasive in the space between them.

The boy from Great Britain stopped holding his emotions. It was like a time bomb it had reached its limit there was no going back. His lip released the imposed tension, curving slightly downward trembling, this was accompanied by deep glassy and bright emerald orbs, product of containing the drops that expressed the deepest pains of Lando Norris. He looked into the eyes of his teammate breaking even more, he approached with slightly reddened cheeks and without thinking twice he clung tightly to the crying spanish driver.

\- Ow little Lando - The hug responds, listening more closely to the devastating broken sobs of the usually jovial boy from England.

The dark-haired one felt a pressure in his chest, it saddened him to see the new talent of the team like this. Carlos Sainz moved by the tender but depressing situation starring Norris chooses to lightly whisper words of encouragement to restore the temperance of his young companion.

— Look, you are the pilot with the most future ahead Lando don't let the rest tell you otherwise. The team and i trust you, and i know you will come out of this bad streak — The passionate spanish-speaking expressed with full honesty adding without further ado — I admire your character on the track that aggressiveness and determination is phenomenal — He pauses subtlely to order his following ideas — Your kindness and happiness that you emanate outside the paddock moves me ... You know? I never thought to be so fond of someone who would also be my rival, I will miss you as you cannot imagine my muppet friend — He lets out a light laugh smiling at such a confession he had just made.

Once the sweet and sincere phrases of his companion reached his ears. At this time, he didn't know if he was whining because of what made him self-conscious at first or because of the emotional words that the spanish dedicated to him.

He gently distanced himself from the teammate looking at him again rejoining with a natural softness. His cheeks burned fervently, colored due to the hispanic's compliments. Right now, his face resembled the color of the car that Ferrari drivers drove.

Lando never thought that the passionate Spanish "Smooth Operator" would think such great things towards him. It was a fact that Sainz esteemed him, however he always believed that Carlos was someone who felt a strong feeling of companionship with any pilot with whom he doubles, but his bond with the young man from Spain was special.

He would be a complete lie if he denied that he also had a singular affection for the other McLaren driver. In that instant, he felt like a clumsy brat delighted with just a few words that had made him shudder and blow up his world, but suddenly everything turned gray.

The spaniard would inevitably go to the legendary team founded by Enzo, a slight anguish invaded his face, he approached his comrade saying timidly.

— Carlos please, don't leave me alone — His voice thread sharpened considerably, the englishman tried to maintain his composure avoiding at all costs breaking into tears just as he did a few minutes ago.

— I wouldn't do it little Lando — The opposite stated possibly ignoring the true connotation in the words of the thin british streamer.

— Stay with me, stay with me ... — He reiterated which broken record started to breathe heavily while his eyes looked like two grayish clouds foreshadowing rain.

— Calm here I am ... with you darling — Denotes in a soft and sweet sentence then when he realized the nickname he used with english it was too late to amend it.

There was a minute of silence, their gazes met at the same time both pairs of eyes shone brightly, some with regret and others compassionate. But in the end, in the depths of their souls they shared the same feelings of love for each other.

As if just by looking at each other the entire spaniard took the initiative approaching Lando dangerously. The young man from UK had his eyes completely closed accompanied by a soft pink staining his cheeks from the shame he experienced. The young english driver makes a sign of being ready to take the next step with some withdrawal. The narrow distance between the two was shortened in order to gently bring their lips together, the young man with brown hair feels himself vanish before impacting his lips against those of his teammate.

He opens his eyes slightly with some difficulty, managing to vaguely dazzle thanks to the darkness of the environment but he doesn't find Sainz's face. He opens his orbs completely confused noticing that there was no one but him fervently hugging a moistened cushion.

It is there that the young driver realizes that he was still sitting in the chair on the balcony, concluding, that everything that happened after leaving his cell phone on the table had been the product of his dreams.

The driver of car four had cried himself to sleep. That worked against him completely, his vision was still blurry, his eyelids were heavy and he experienced a deep congestion thanks to direct exposure to the fresh portimonense air for hours. He had always been a cold person so the chills weren't expected; he was shaking so much that he couldn't even hold something with his hands. Lando finally chose to enter his hotel room sheltering in the warmth of his blankets.

As time passed he began to feel a hole in the depths of his heart, he felt so alone in this miserable world and confused in front of his feelings for Carlos Sainz. He was a mess from head to toe a nervous wreck and mental instability all the security he built in the fantasy posed by his dream was destroyed in a matter of seconds.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg now what tormented him at first was insignificant. Future events haunted his head and even made his hair stand on end, one of them was the next circuit, the ex San Marino Grand Prix; now titled under the name of Emilia Romagna in the city of Imola, Italy. The responsible for multiple accidents and one of the most tragic deaths in motorsport history. Although luck was not on her side what he least wanted to think about was some misfortune happening to him. The best thing was to have a firm mind before the track which was difficult for him to put into practice, considering that next week was that race.

The FIA didn't give them a break at times, sadly there was nothing a rookie brat like him could do to change the schedule set by a higher authority. He had no choice but to learn to deal with his emotions since panicking wasn't profitable if he wanted to aspire to a good result or at least a relatively decent one. From that moment, he convinced himself to fulfill his main objective to redeem himself from his triple crown of failures, managing to finish in the points zone on the third italian track.

Unfortunately, despite his efforts to get rid of one of his insecurities, another one made an appearance one that consisted of a fact rather than a possibility, Carlos and his contract with the Ferrari team. The young Englishman felt increasingly distant from his teammate the circuit of their relationship was marking its terminal turns.

The young streamer feared the fact of losing all kinds of interaction with Sainz Jr. the following year. Even though he denied several times having cried at the inherent departure of the talented driver from Spain he was actually a real lake of tears and quite frequently. He fleetingly remembers his dream and his sanity is going downhill again like a roller coaster descending at full speed. He hated himself for dreaming things that embroidered the strange, his dreams burned his psyches they were a disorder infinitely worse than the one in his room.

His unconscious made him doubt who he was and what he felt. He hated having grown too fond of Carlos but at the same time it was impossible not to he appreciate him, and maybe he even loved him but was too stubborn to admit it. He firmly believed that this love was a false perception product of his stupid fantasies, therefore it was illogical to take it into consideration. Lando wasn't the type to open his feelings often much less to anyone, because afterwards he knew that he couldn't let go of that person from his side. That's why he had a problem he didn't want to let go of the dark-haired one.

Still wearing his McLaren fleece hoodie although now accompanied by his winter pajamas. He hid his head inside his clothes not just because of the cold but to hide his anguish again. As soon as he buried his head in the garment of his uniform part of this began to get wet inside tears fell and fell in his outburst of anxiety. Lando took his battered cell phone and doubtful dialed the number of the participant of his dream.

The sound of the call dialing the spaniard's number ate at the last drop of his stability, his anxiety increased as the sound of the call in progress persisted, he clenched his teeth with some force wanting to cancel everything in a matter of seconds. What was he thinking? He questioned himself breaking into his exhausted teammate's sleep schedule wasn't right. However, when the call was going to decline it was precisely answered.

— Ehm ... Buenas noches? — Lando spoke doubtful if he had pronounced spanish properly. His skills for speaking spanish were such as those he had for cooking, nonexistent.

His insecurities increased, the british wanted the earth to swallow him without leaving a trace that he ever existed. He felt like a stupid little boy who wasn't able to deal with his problems and wanted others to solve them for him, he concluded that he was an inconsiderate reverend.

— Son las cuatro de la mañana ¿Quién cojones llama a esta hora? — Sentenced harshly the major of the drivers in his mother tongue.

Carlos's voice was hoarse than usual due to lack of sleep. He was just waking up due to the telephone interruption, therefore he didn't even have the time to formulate sentences in english.

— Ahm ... Me? — Norris answered even more confused inferring the words said by the spanish.

— Lando? — Said Carlos recognizing the voice of his McLaren partner — Oh come on pequeño cabrón, i'm not up for Twitch jokes, i'm exhausted. Tomorrow i'll help you with advices - The spanish expressed trying to formulate the most logical phrase that his mind was capable of creating with all the dream he had on top.

— N-no problem — The brown-haired one spoke with a small voice. It was a low blow to know that what happened in his dream wasn't even close to what happened in reality.

As much as he tried to keep his composure, his tears cascaded down his soft cheeks.

— Lando — The spaniard one noticed an irregularity in the voice of his teammate alarming him deeply.

All anger he felt at having awakened him left the hispanic's body to give way to the intrigue of the streamer pilot's emotional state.

— Eh Lando, are you crying? — Carlos Sainz questioned delicately hoping that his premise was wrong.

— N- ... — Lando can't even formulate a sentence choking on his own retained tears — I-i think i'm crying — He declared, alluding to one of his famous phrases.

His deep sobs could be heard by the spanish driver on the other end of the line.

— It's for today, right? My muppet friend calm down, here i am, you can unload with me — Commented the main driver of the orange team in a smooth tone.

— I feel so alone, i need a hug — The youngest of the pilots admitted with a brittle voice exposing the deepest feelings that were in his heart.

— Ow Lando — Carlos said pitying the english — I promise to give you that hug when we see each other don't hesitate, but don't be sad cabroncito — The hispanic said sweetly, looking to raise Lando's spirits. 

Sometimes, it was nice to have a friend and even more so when it was someone special to you, the young Twitch streamer thought vaguely.

The next day, Norris was heading to the airport to catch the flight to the next city where the GP would be disputed. He walked at a slow pace because there was no reason to take the plane immediately, he was surprisingly at the right time.

The portuguese morning breeze was chilly; even more than the night. Lando was frozen from head to toe, wearing the windbreaker of his team and in his hands he held a hot chocolate to ward off the cold, by taking a light sip of it.

The young McLaren promise feels a certain disappointment to see that Sainz didn't fulfill his promise, he supposed that he said that at dawn to calm him down and finally let him sleep, or that it was probably all part of another of his dreams he theorized. Nor was he going to dwell on the matter he couldn't let trivia cost him his place in the championship.

At that, he notes at the distance the spaniard driver who accelerated his step running towards him while raising a hand in greeting. That gesture seemed most comical to the young british pilot, he responded shyly with a subtle smile on his face.

Once Carlos got to where he was he hugged him surprisingly. Lando astonished at the gesture, drops his plastic glass pouring the remaining chocolate on the floor but he didn't care at all with both hands he clung to the back of his passionate and spanish teammate.

— I never break the promises — He said winking as he tried to separate his body from the shorter one noticing that Lando was preventing him.

Lando Norris was silent as he closed his eyes channeling his emotions. He had finally reached the peace he longed for, tears of relief running down his icy cheeks.

Many of the team members looked at them, and even drivers from rival teams but they didn't care. Carlos Sainz made a gesture to the team that was comforting Lando, the McLaren workers nodded understandingly as they carried the luggage of their two pilots into the private jet.

After a couple of minutes, the briton breaks away and gives the spanish driver a big smile.

— You are better? — Asked the hispanic pilot as he lowered his mask.

— Yes, thank you Carlos — He answered with a more animated tone, nodding — It's nice to have a friend like you ... — Lando said with slightly pink cheeks both friends smile at each other.

Both entered the plane sitting together in the seats that were shared. Lando due to his exhaustion ended up falling into sleep, he rested his head on the shoulder of the spaniard who found the situation involving the one with wavy brown hair most tender.

After a couple of hours, the british streamer wakes up to the vibration of his phone, proceeds to check the notifications on his mobile seeing that it was George Russell who had written to him. His message consisted of an invitation to play golf together tomorrow, a smile was drawn on his face he sent an emoji to the driver of Williams accepting his proposal.

His gaze is deeply focused on his teammate who lay sleeping with an expression between comical and adorable, decides to take a photo of him to annoy him later, as he loved to annoy Carlos or rather, how he adored Carlos Sainz.

— It's nice to have a friend like you, thanks for everything Carlos — The english driver concluded smiling as he blocked his mobile and fell asleep next to Carlos.

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic that ended in my life. It is also posted on Wattpad under the same name.  
> I hope you liked it, don't hesitate to comment or leave your kudos if my writing was to your liking.  
> I hope i have uploaded the fanfiction well, it took me a long time to fix it ;u;


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